The maps you speak of, were they drawn by Tolkien himself, or at his word? I have a feeling that they were not, or if they were, that the map in question was just an early sketch and not the final vision he had.
I propose that that the mountains were linked to the White and Misty mountaints, similar to the way the Rocky Mountains Sierra Nevada and Andes all straddle the Pacific Plate. As For Melkor raising the Misty Mountains, maybe the plate just needed a little push. Plus, the mountain systems fit Europe's rather well, not in exact form, but in size and irregular shape.
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